COUNTY HURRIES BABCOCK REQUEST

A green light from the state Department of Transportation on Monday has all but paved the way for the county to widen to four lanes part of Babcock Street in Palm Bay.

The last hurdle: Applying for a $2 million grant from the state Department of Commerce and gathering $250,000 in contributions from Palm Bay and its businesses. The deadline: Monday.

County planners are racing to write an application that will convince a Commerce committee that the Babcock project will make or break economic development along the road. The committee has its final meeting of the fiscal year June 24.

At stake is a $5 million medical center planned for just north of Port Malabar Road on Babcock Street. Developers say no four-lane, no medical center.

The center is expected to handle about 1,200 patients daily. Officials say that will worsen road congestion, but they will argue that Palm Bay needs the facility.